How to Write a Great Query Letter

Subject: Re: How to Write a Great Query Letter Sat Feb 23, 2008 11:07 am

Glad I could help.

Good luck on your search!
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Subject: Re: How to Write a Great Query Letter Sat Feb 23, 2008 11:18 am

Thanks, Brenda. This is very helpful.

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Jenny
Writing as Victoria Howard

www.victoriahoward.co.uk

Subject: Re: How to Write a Great Query Letter Sat Feb 23, 2008 11:23 am

Sometimes it's hard to know, Jenny, which one to send. We almost have to be mindreaders, and even then it's a guess.
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Subject: Re: How to Write a Great Query Letter Sat Feb 23, 2008 4:20 pm

Brenda thank you so much for sharing your letter. That is very helpful, and very meaningful since we know that it worked!!

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Pam Robertson

http://andthebandplayedonmylawn.blogspot.com

Subject: Re: How to Write a Great Query Letter Sat Feb 23, 2008 4:23 pm

I just had a thought---what do all of you think about the possibility of a reply if we were to, say, phone an agent or editor's assistant and ask them what kind of query letter the editor or agent might appreciate? Do you think they'd tell us, or have any of you tried that approach? scratch

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Pam Robertson

http://andthebandplayedonmylawn.blogspot.com

Subject: Re: How to Write a Great Query Letter Sun Feb 24, 2008 3:06 am

That is a great query letter, Brenda. Thank you for posting it for us.
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Zada Connaway
Mother's Journals: parts 1, 2 and 3 ISBN # 1-4241-6969-0

http://www.zadaconnaway.com/

Subject: Re: How to Write a Great Query Letter Sun Feb 24, 2008 8:50 am

As I said before, to add to the confusion, here's another version of a query for the same manuscript that I sent to a small publisher with the three-paragraph blurb.

I started with the tagline. I have two different tags and still not sure which is the best, but the publisher asked for a full manuscript and it’s still under consideration.

In case you're totally confused, I had my agent for several months, and we've recently parted company. She kept wanting to slant my manuscript toward the romance market and I do not write romance.

It was a difficult decision as I was thrilled to get her and she did present my manuscript to a major publisher. There was some conversation back and forth between my agent and the acquiring editor, but they were closing their women's fiction line. They involved me and there was some suggestions to slant my work toward another of their lines, but I just couldn't commit to writing something I didn't feel passionately about. Can't tell you how difficult that was. It's still under consideration at another publisher, but in the meantime, I'm back at the drawing board.

Here's the other version:

Dear Publisher, (name omitted)

BEYOND THE QUIET is about a recently widowed foreclosure agent who discovers a new sense of herself when she has a passionate romance with a retired fire chief.

Lisa Montgomery never learned to show love. As a child, she was acceptable only if she were clean, composed, and quiet. For most of her forty-three years she survived by keeping her life and emotions tightly controlled. Then, after her husband succumbs to cancer, she discovers her control was only an illusion. His secret life has left her in debt and nearly penniless, and her daughter, instead of offering comfort and support, is judgmental and emotionally distant.

Disillusioned and bitter, Lisa return to works and meets Gene O’Neal, a retired fire chief who pursues her with a passion that melts her icy façade. She falls in love and learns how glorious true lovemaking can be. Only her troubled relationship with her daughter dulls her new happiness, so Lisa prepares to make one more effort to talk to her, to offer the love she’d always felt but never knew how to express.

When her life changes again, she realizes pain and loss has made her stronger. As a woman who has learned to cherish each moment, she leaves her old life behind to follow her dream, welcoming each tomorrow as a new opportunity for adventure.

Approximately 82,000 words, BEYOND is my second novel. Ten Times Guilty, the story of a struggling single mother learning her strength, garnered a four-star review from Romantic Times Review Magazine, Mystery & Suspense section, January, 2006.

I’ve studied novel writing by attending the University of Iowa's summer writing sessions, taken the the Writer’s Digest course as well as Gotham online classes. I’ve attended several writing conferences and have taken their classes as well. My short stories have been featured in True Story Magazine and The Talking Stick, a Midwest literary journal. Another short has been accepted into the Amazon Shorts program. I’m a freelance editor and teach novel writing in Southern California. My articles have been published in my local newspaper and I'm also the restaurant reviewer.

According to your instructions, I've attached a synopsis and the first three chapters.

(closing)
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Subject: Re: How to Write a Great Query Letter Sun Feb 24, 2008 8:56 am

I just realized I may have posted this on the wrong thread. If I did, Shelagh, please let me know. This is a thread about agents and perhaps I should've posted the last query under a 'Query Letter' thread.

What do you think?
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www.authorsden.com/brendahill

Subject: Re: How to Write a Great Query Letter Sun Feb 24, 2008 8:58 am

Thanks again, Brenda.

I read a magazine article recently that states if you have been self published, or published by a "vanity press" or POD publisher, you shouldn't mention this in your query. Is this your understanding, too?
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Jenny
Writing as Victoria Howard

www.victoriahoward.co.uk

Subject: Re: How to Write a Great Query Letter Sun Feb 24, 2008 9:02 am

Yes, Jenny, that's so true. I posted a sentence or two about that, then deleted it because I didn't want to start a riot like some other MBs have gone through.

When I talked to my agent about my bio to send to publishers along with my manuscript, she actually laughed at the thought of writers 'published' with PA. But she said she'd mention mine only because it received a four-star review out of a possible four and a half stars with RT's reveiw magazine. She thought that might be a good way to overcome PA's reputation. In the same publication, Dean Koontz and James Patterson were listed in my section in RT's magazine. They each received four and a half stars and I received four. Needless to say I was thrilled. That all helped to overcome some of the stigma.
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Subject: Re: How to Write a Great Query Letter Sun Feb 24, 2008 9:29 am

Brenda,
I think honesty should never be a problem. I appreciate the mention of how they view a PA published book. I think it is important to know that. Having said that, I remind myself that each agent and publisher view things a bit differently.
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"To Beirut and Back"
http://www.freewebs.com/abemarch

Subject: Re: How to Write a Great Query Letter Sun Feb 24, 2008 9:35 am

That's what's so frustrating in this business, Abe. There's no set rules to follow.

Most agents say they'd never consider certain publishers as a credit, yet, if you present evidence of high sales, then that's a different story.
_________________
www.brendahill.com
www.authorsden.com/brendahill

Subject: Re: How to Write a Great Query Letter Sun Feb 24, 2008 11:16 am

Brenda,

I wonder if they view online reviewers such as Oncewritten.com, Allbookreviews, Midwest Book Review in the same light? My PA book received four star reviews from each of these companies and I often wonder whether I should mention it in my query letter.
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Jenny
Writing as Victoria Howard

www.victoriahoward.co.uk

Subject: Re: How to Write a Great Query Letter Sun Feb 24, 2008 11:23 am

Congratulations, Jenny!

Of them all, I believe Midwest Book Review is held in the highest regard, so yes, by all means, mention them only.
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www.brendahill.com
www.authorsden.com/brendahill

Subject: Re: How to Write a Great Query Letter Sun Feb 24, 2008 11:29 am

Brenda,

I was very careful when it came to reviews, I intentionally sent the manuscript to outside reviewers. So, apart from Shelagh and Leslie McQuinn, no other PA author reviewed my book. I would recommend other PA authors to do the same, but if I mentioned this on the PA board, I dare say I would be shot down in flames! Evil or Very Mad

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Jenny
Writing as Victoria Howard

www.victoriahoward.co.uk